


A disappointing dissertation

by Peruse



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Multi, Secret Solenoid, Seeker Trines, rip in peace skywarp lmao, starscream/sleep, tired grad student starscream
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28488576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peruse/pseuds/Peruse
Summary: “Why are you two here? I’m busy.”“You haven’t been out in a week, Star.” Thundercracker said.“It couldn’t have been a week that’s – Starscream blinked into the air, looked away, and then focused on his desk to pick up his stylus, “well, I am a busy mech, Thundercracker. I have many duties, as you know. Your point is?”“My point is that you need to get some energon and recharge.”__Thundercracker and Skywarp haven't seen Starscream in a week and they miss him, they just have to get him out of his lab first.
Relationships: Skywarp & Starscream & Thundercracker (Transformers), Skywarp/Starscream/Thundercracker (Transformers)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 61
Collections: Secret Solenoid '20-'21





	A disappointing dissertation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chaoswolf12](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaoswolf12/gifts).



> Its mr secret soliniod time!!! I got Chaoswolf12 so I hope I gave you all the trine fluff your heart desires! I hope! Fluff isn't my strong suit, but I hope you like it! I gotta write the command trine more, they're so fun and they have such good voices. 
> 
> If you wanna see me cry on twitter, you can hit me up @tectonic420

“Why can’t I just warp him back to our hab?”

“What happened the _last time_ you tried that?” 

Skywarp opened his mouth to speak but Thundercracker cut him off.

“He got pissed to slag, stormed off and then we didn’t see him for another 3 orns.”

“Yea, yea” Skywarp grumbled, “he also turned into more of an aft than usual and was a pit master during rounds.”

“Exactly.” Thundercracker said, crossing his arms. “So let’s try diplomacy.”

Skywarp mumbled something about ‘boring as rust’ but Thundercracker ignored him and turned back to the lab. He narrowed his optics and stared at the unassuming door. Starscream was temperamental on a _good_ orn and barging in would only start him off in a worse mood. They need something more subtle, but not too respectful that he’d dismiss them; Primus, his trinemate was _such_ a pain in the-

“Hey! Screamer!” Skywarp yelled, banging on the door. “Open up!” 

Thundercracker sighed audibly and watched with tired optics as Skywarp, at the lack of response, moved to type in his code to the lab’s keypad.

Much to both of their surprises, the door beeped cheerfully and slid open. Skywarp wasted no time and darted forward. Shrugging, Thundercracker strode in after him.

The place was a mess, full of stale air and empty undispersed cubes. Starscream didn’t even bother to look up from his work. Not that _that_ bothered Skywarp.

“Get off me!” Starscream yelled, leaning back in his chair, his wings slapping the other seeker. Skywarp was unaffected and tightened his hold, nuzzling his nose into Starscream’s helm. “ _Skywarp!”_

Thundercracker muted his audials. 

Starscream yelled something else and his wing tips twitched, but Skywarp just slumped down closer, smothering Starscream’s wings with his own body weight.

Skywarp loosely draped his servos across Starscream’s chasis and tlted his helm with a smirk. Thundercracker couldn’t hear Skywarp talking but judging by Starscream’s unimpressed face, he wasn’t missing out. Starscream elbowed Skywarp roughly, and while his wings dropped demurely, Skywarp only resettled his grip. The two mechs fought for another rough klik. Idiots.

Thundercracker must’ve said that outloud, because they both looked at him.

Starscream’s face furrowed and he said something into the air, wings stiff. Skywarp’s resounding response was loud enough to send vibrations down his wings. Thundercracker shook his wings to resettle them and glared at Skywarp, Starscream’s own wings flared out and Thundercracker reactivated his audials.

“-mean it Skywarp, this _instant!”_ With a sharp turn that betrayed Starscream’s speed, he reached out and pinched the top of Skywarp’s wing. With a harsh flick, Skywarp’s wings snapped back and sent a gust of air into the room. He teeked amusement and Skywarp let go with a pout, unimpacted by Starscream’s seething tone. Mumbling under his breath, Skywarp rubbed his ‘injured’ wing.

Neither of them bothered to respond. 

“Why are you two here? I’m _busy_.” 

“You haven’t been out in a week, Star.” Thundercracker said. 

“It couldn’t have been a week that’s – Starscream blinked into the air, looked away, and then focused on his desk to pick up his stylus, “well, I _am_ a busy mech, Thundercracker. I have many duties, as you know. Your point is?”

“My point _is_ that you need to get some energon and recharge.”

“Pah!” Starscream dismissed, waving a servo airily in Thundercracker’s direction. “What I need is to finish this before _someone_ demands even more of my skill and I end up further behind.”

“Have someone else do it.” Skywarp said succinctly, resting an elbow on Starscream’s shoulder. Starscream scoffed and batted him away. “What’s the point of being in charge if you can’t tell people to do stuff?”

“I can’t Skywarp, you wouldn’t understand. I’m the expert on the Nemesis, in the Decepticons _, in my field-“_

“Wait, didn’t you not even graduate, Star?” 

Starscream shrieked and pushed Skywarp to the ground.

So much for subtly.

“You _know_ why I never graduated! The farce of a system, the farce at the Academy! Oh, ‘You killed your partner, we knew seekers were like this! You must’ve cheated to get these good grades! We’re not even going to _read your dissertation!’”_ Starscream’s claws dug into the stylus he was holding and he snarled.

 _“_ Oh, we read your thesis and _that was fine!_ Except suddenly vorns and _vorns later,_ it’s not! So now you don’t have any degree but we’re not getting rid of your debt either! ‘Oh, look, he ran off to join the rebellions because he got sad!’ Nevermind that they discredited my life’s work and my partner’s life’s work! If the Academy was still alive, then they would _beg_ to read my papers! I have enough dissertations and theories to fill the Academy myself!”

It was a familiar rant, but the pain in Starscream’s field always felt fresh. Skywarp’s own field filled with apology and his wings drooped in sympathy.

“Yeah, I know, sorry.” 

Thundercracker reached his own field out to mingle with theirs and after a klik, Starscrem’s wings dropped and he looked away. 

He didn’t even complain when Skywarp fanned an apology in his direction.

“Yea, they’re a bunch of drone-dead bastards, they deserved what they got, Star.” Skywarp heckled, sitting on the corner of Starscream’s desk.

Starscream preened, his wings flaring out dramatically

“Grounders.” Thundercracker said dismissively, shaking his helm in agreement.

Starscream turned to face him and smirked, he was playing with his stylus and he spun it sharply to mimic a blaster “It wasn’t my finest work, and I’ll admit that, I could’ve made them suffer for _much_ longer.” Starscream spread out his arms dramatically and crossed his legs. His wings perked up high, prideful-happy, with a hint of aggression and he leaned forward.

“But I couldn’t help myself, I got lost in the moment” he confessed, opening his palms in a show of humility, “I had too much passion, not enough precision or artistry. I can’t say I have any regrets, but of course, we can all dream.”

Thundercracker kept a straight face as Skywarp mimicked Starscream behind his back; down to the haughty, dismissive wrist flick at the end. 

“Ha! If you did, I woulda slagged you myself.” Skywarp crowed.

They laughed, their fields mingling easily, but when Starscream turned back to his work, Thundercracker frowned.

“But you don’t have to push yourself like this, Star…”

It was a worthless argument and they all knew it. It was an argument they’d been having for vorns and vorns, well over a millennia-

“Yes I _do._ ” Starscream interrupted loudly, he was still twirling his stylus, but he had looked away from his work to stare at the taller seeker, “I am the _Second in Command_ of this army, and the rightful ruler! I am the _only_ reason we haven’t fallen to the Autobots, Primus knows what _Megatron_ would do without my skill.” Starscream said disdainfully. He picked up his datapad and used it to gesture to the other pads on his desk.

“Ha! We wouldn’t even fall because of the Autobots or in battle, but in _bureaucracy_. Dirge would probably spend the budget on wax and polish until the energon ran out, or Soundwave would approve every one of his drone’s worthless, little games. Or Megatron would go on a rampage and dump it all in the ocean in some half-wit plot to destroy Optimus Prime. Only I have the skill, the _ability,_ to do such delicate work-”

“C’mon Star, no one even cares about that slag.” Skywarp complained. Starscream’s optics narrowed and he spun around to glower at Skywarp. 

“That ‘ _boring slag’_ is the _only_ thing keeping this army as half-way decent as it is! Despite what you hear, this army does _not_ run itself! I play an integral role, well beneath my station yes, but-.”

“All you do is paperwork.” Skywarp whined, throwing his arms up in the air. “You won’t even approve shift changes either! All you do is write stuff and then give it to Megatron or Soundwave.”

“You _imbecile-“_

Thundercracker, happily abandoned, reached down and scooped up the abandoned datapads off the floor. They were full of technical jargon and he instantly gave up any hope of trying to be helpful by putting them in order. Instead he grabbed the rest, collected them in a neat stack and put them on Starscream’s desk. 

Starscream didn’t notice, now half-spun on his chair to further argue with their trinemate. He was using his stylus more as a weapon, jabbing it into Skywarp’s cockpit. Thundercracker frowned at the lackluster shine on the back of his wings.

“This doesn’t look important.” Skywarp said as he snatched a datapad from Starscream’s desk and held it up against the light. From what Thundercracker could see, it was upside down, backwards, and full of more formulas in Starscream’s compact writing.

Starscream snatched it back and hissed, “You don’t have the capacity to even understand a _micron_ of my work! It’s far beyond you, Skywarp!"

Confident that Skywarp could be an annoying distraction for hours, Thundercracker went back to tidying. There were dozens of mismatched broken scraps on the ground and, not sure what to do, he collected them into a semi-neat pile next to a larger pile of scrap. Starscream, for all his issues, didn’t _usually_ keep garbage around so it was probably useful. Maybe. 

Either way, Thundercracker moved on.

There were empty containers of rust sticks and cadmium chips and cesium puffs, and, Thundercracker noticed, the lack of actual _real_ energon. Pushing down the over-full trash can, Thundercracker crudely pressed it into a mass and threw the snack containers on top. It didn’t overflow, so he turned his attention to the sparingly few empty cubes.

Dismissing them wasn’t hard but it was annoying –and was something both of his trinemates were notoriously bad at. He was on the last cube before Starscream finally noticed him.

“What are you doing!?” 

Looking up, Thundercracker dismissed the last cube and brushed off his palms. 

“Cleaning, this place is a mess, Starscream.” Thundercracker stated bluntly, and behind him Skywarp cackled loudly. Without looking, Starscream elbowed him off the desk and Skywarp hit the floor with a loud whine. 

“Well…That is not your concern, is it Thundercracker. I am perfectly able to take care of myself.” Thundercracker dismissed another cube pointedly. “It wasn’t that bad anyway.” Starscream stated.

“Yea, but you don’t gotta.” Skywarp offered from the floor. “’Cuz were a trine, Star.”

“We’re here for you, Starscream” Thundercracker added, walking over to his trinemate. Thundercracker stopped a micron away and despite his sneer, Starscream’s wings flicked back to tap against Thundercracker’s plating. In response, he let his field loose, Skywarp responded to it almost instantly, leeching across his plating.

Starscream looked away as his own field snapped loose, longing and tired exhaustion and a sense of _dullness_ washed across his own. Skywarp looked up and frowned, pushing himself to his heels he placed a servo on the back of their Trine Leader’s chair. He didn’t say anything but his wing pressed against Starscream’s own.

Starscream leaned into the touch. Skywarp reached out and Thundercracker didn’t think he’d ever get tired of how nice they looked together.

Thundercracker reached out to grab Starscream’s other servo, entwining the smaller fingers with his own. He pulled lightly and Starscream followed easily. He looked worse standing up and Skywarp frowned and dropped Starscream’s sevo. With a dramatic spin, he pulled out an energon cube from his subspace, and placed it in Starscream’s palm. After a beat, Skywarp curled Starscream’s fingers around the cube and pushed it closer to the other mech’s chassis. 

Starscream laughed, a soft thing, and didn’t argue as he took the energon. He took a single sip before his optics lit up and he chugged the cube down and dismissed it with a tidy, turn of the wrist. At the rush of energy, their Trine Leader’s wings perked. But when he turned back to his desk, Skywarp pushed him lightly.

“C’mon, I wanna keep my promise.” He said, winking at their trinemate. Starscream’s brow furrowed and not wanting to hear anymore arguments, Thundercracker started to walk, dragging the other seeker behind him. There was resistance for a moment before Starscream sighed and let himself be dragged along. The door closed behind them and Thundercracker resisted the urge to preen.

Skywarp, who had the control of a sparkling, didn’t, and his wings perked up as he grinned over his shoulder. Miraculously, their leader didn’t say anything about it, but he didn’t have to and Thundercracker saw Starscream’s wings flick back crudely. Forever resigned to being in charge of his idiots, Thundercracker batted Starscream’s wings with his own and signed ‘annoyed-behave’ to Skywarp. The purple seeker snatched his servo to his spark and his wings flickered demurely. He looked offended and it perfectly combined with the not-shock-amusement of his field. 

“Maybe Thundercracker would be of better use, he knows how to _read a room_.” Starscream heckled, breaking the silence as easy as the sound barrier. 

Skywarp turned on his heel, his wings nearly clipping the wall. He didn’t seem bothered and moved to walk backwards, still gesturing wildly. “What? No way! I’m way better than TC! No offense TC but—“

“Offense taken,” Thundercracker stated dryly, but Skywarp just talked louder.

“--You’re good ‘n all but I’m _better_. You’re gonna see it, Star.” Skywarp said, his wings dragging across the air in slow, unsubtle circles.

“Enthusiasm doesn’t outweigh talent, Skywarp. Thundercracker has proven to _learn on the job._ "

"Well, luckily I got nothing to learn, Star." Skywarp said, winking and blowing a kiss at Starscream.

Starscream barked out a laugh and Skywarp pouted and stuck out his glossa. Luckily, Starscream didn’t bother with a response and instead tucked himself into Thundercracker’s side. 

Thundercracker ran a servo down Starscream’s spine and frowned. “Your tensile wiring is all kinked, probably why you’ve been walking with a hunch.”

Starscream glared up at him, “I have _not_ been walking with a hunch, Thundercracker.”

“Sure.” Thundercracker agreed, his claws straightening out the stressed wires in Starscream’s back.

After that it was almost peaceful. Thundercracker didn’t even say a word when Starscream became more and more deadweight. 

Skywarp shot them a grin and gripped the door frame, pivoting on his heel. In a practiced motion, he dropped his servo onto the sensor. It opened up with barely any grinding and he took a step back to dramatically gesture to the room.

Starscream scoffed but nonetheless, raised his helm and walked into the room, dragging Thundercracker along. Thundercracker grabbed Skywarp’s servo as he passed and dragged Skywarp alongside them. The door slammed behind them and Starscream muttered something about ‘the Nemesis’ finest’

“C’mon,” Skywarp said and took their clasped servos to lead them to their standing berth. Starscream didn’t need any encouragement and sat down with a low groan. His wings dropped down into a low-neutral and Thundercracker brushed his servo down one wing encouragingly. It pushed into his touch almost desperately and Thundercracker’s own wings drooped. Skywarp crawled onto the bed and patted the middle obnoxiously. 

Starscream rolled his optics and swatted Skywarp’s servo away, “Don’t be so crude.”

Despite that, Starscream squirmed his way into the middle of their berth and laid down against the pillows. Instantly, he let out a low sigh and Thundercracker’s wings twitched at the pleasure-satisfaction-exhaustion in Starscream’s field. 

Starscream’s optics dulled to a soft, smoky red that Thundercracker always found so endlessly appealing. The smaller mech adjusted himself against the pillows and Thundercracker reached out to fluff the pillows around his wings. Starscream slumped further down and he considered that a success.

A flash of purple and a low pull from their trinebond grabbed his attention and Thundercracker tilted his helm downwards. Skywarp’s optics met his and he grinned handsomely, his fingers were rubbing smooth, polished circles into Starscream’s thighs. Pleasure burned in his field and saturated the room and it barely took any time before Skywarp’s fingers moved higher up, nearly brushing the mech’s panel.

“Wanna make you feel good, Star.” He said, breathing over Starscream’s panel. Starscream’s thighs shifted apart and Skywarp filled the space with ease. Thundercracker’s own fans kicked in as Skywarp mouthed his way around Starscream’s thighs, leaving trails of open mouthed kisses. Eventually, Skywarp kicked a quick line down the center of Starscream’s panel. When he didn’t open, Skywarp did it again, sending a low, warm wavy of flirty-lust down their trinebond. 

Thundercracker looked up from the show to look at Starscream and had to mute himself to hide his laughter. Starscream was asleep. The kinda recharge that muted his field into a low, contented hum. Totally passed out.

Skywarp didn’t notice and Thundercracker debated not telling him, instead he let his humor seep into his field until Skywarp looked up. The mech’s jaw dropped and he looked at Thundercracker accusingly but Thundercracker just shrugged and grinned. 

Skywarp huffed and leaned back onto his knees. 

::You could’a _said_ something:: He whined against their comms.

:Yea:: Thundercracker agreed with a smirk. :But it was the only way to keep you quiet::

Despite Skywarp’s offended field and low wings, he was more than gentle as he backed away off the berth. He grabbed a blanket off the floor and draped it over their Trine Leader and Thundercracker grabbed the edge of it to tuck it under Starscream’s chin.

Skywarp crawled back on the bed and snuggled against Starscream’s side and Thundercracker laid down to mirror him. His field was still leeching shame and Thundercracker leaned over their trinemate to kiss it away. Eventually it melted into something more relaxed and he pulled back to rest his helm against Skywarp’s.

::You know, I’m still running hot from watching you::

Skywarp grinned but fell backwards to flop on the bed. He stretched out, showing off the sleek lines of his back and wings. It was a pretty image, but didn’t last as Skywarp dropped the posture and yawned, throwing his arm across Starscream’s cockpit.

::Maybe you can ‘teach me something’ tomorrow, eh TC?:: Skywarp jested, ::Some servos on’ learning?:: 

Thundercracker smirked but said nothing and instead rested his wing on top of Starscream’s and fell asleep to the soft fields of his trine.


End file.
